The Mark of Ministry
HE IS CLOSE
As we come into the realization that God is not some distant God, but that He is near, and that He longs to speak, we begin to make room to hear His voice. And to hear His voice is to be transformed, it is to sense the in-breaking of His presence into our everyday, mundane lives. To hear His voice is to acknowledge the nearness of His heart.
In the ancient world, the gods of the Romans and Greeks did not dwell with mankind. They were only marginally interested in mankind. Culturally, we still live as if this were true today. We are barely aware that there may be anything more to life than this present reality. Mostly we dull ourselves and refuse to acknowledge the moments of lucidity that fleetingly slip away. God is but a breath away, His voice echoing through the chambers of history and individual hearts.
HE TOLD ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOU
A few years ago, I was on an airplane. The man sitting next to me was a nervous flyer. I had been speaking at a gathering for the last few days, had been on multiple flights, and was just looking forward to sleeping the duration of the flight. The man next to me had other ideas.
He told me that he typically talked the ear off of the person next to him because he was so nervous. I politely smiled and laughed, and promptly attempted to ignore him. Then he pointed to the book I had brought out (why I brought it out I do not know, I did not really plan on reading it). “Is that a Bible?” he asked while pointing to the picture of an early church father on the cover. It wasn’t I told him, but it was a book by early Christians.
Though I was tired, the conversation opened up. He told me he had always considered himself a religious person, though not as much as his parents. His parents were practicing Sikhs, he was Sikh, but did not practice. Through the course of our conversation, we talked about prayer, Jesus, redemption, and fulfillment. I even prophesied over him. That one got him.
“God told me something about you,” I said to him.
“God speaks to you!!!??!” he exclaimed incredulously.
I nodded in the affirmative.
“What does he think about me?? What did he tell you? Is he angry with me???” This man was fascinated.
When we meet someone who has been marked by the voice of God we sense something vastly different about them. We intrinsically believe that these people hear God and that God hears them. All of history is littered with people clamoring to hear one statement, to have one-touch from those who have been marked by the love of God.
Jesus says that those who hear His voice are not “of this world.”
John 17:8,14 'For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
But this hearing was not to be relegated to a select few. The invitation is open to anyone to be marked by him for ministry. To hear the voice of God is to have our inner façade crumble. It is to come to grips that you are not a citizen of this world, but that you are set apart. When our façade begins to crumble, we are welcomed into reality. Our illusions are unmasked and we see others as they truly are.